Posts Tagged ‘referral’
Why Won’t My Leads Call Me Back?!?
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Sweet! You got a lead from your website…or anywhere, really.
You call them up and establish a quick relationship. You provide them with a list of property or set them up on an email drip campaign……………………And then, it seems like they just fall off the planet.
“Why?!?! Why dont the clients call me back??”
Well…. 1. It’s not their job to call you back. That is YOUR job. If you want to continue to attempt to do business with this client, then follow-up is a must!
And 2. Not to put too fine of a point on the subject, but the reason they aren’t calling you back is probably because your follow-up phone call sucked. (Hey, someone has to be honest with you…)
Give them a reason to call you back!
Hunting “Hot” Leads Is Bad For Business!
Have you trained your brain to shoot yourself in the foot???
Let’s start with a little story……..
As a young boy, Tan had always heard of stories handed down by his father and his father’s father of a magical rock that, when held by someone, would grant them any wish. It was called a ‘touch stone‘. (A person would know they found the touch stone because the stone would be smooth and round…like a ball…and warm to the touch.) And, as luck would have it, it was said to be along the shore of a small lake near the village that Tan grew up in…
After hearing these stories for his entire life, Tan decided he was going to make it his mission to find this magical ‘touch stone’. So, he started walking around the lake. Every stone he saw, he would pick up, feel it for warmth and visually inspect it for shape. If the stone didn’t adhere to the physical attributes that Tan wanted, he would pitch the stone into the lake so he didn’t have to worry about having to check it again. Over time, Tan had convinced himself that he knew instantly if a stone he had grabbed was the mythical touch stone or not and would immediately hurl the stone into the lake.
Days; Weeks; Months went by and Tan had cleared thousands of stones from the shore of the lake….picking up each one and then pitching it into the lake.
Finally, one one cold morning, Tan grabbed a stone that was warm to the touch. And the stone was round like a ball. And, at that moment……Tan pitched it into the lake.
(Pause for reflection)
The moral of the story??? Treat every stone like it is a ‘touch’ stone.
Let me explain…
If Tan had gone about his quest with the idea that every stone that came across his hands was the touch stone, he would have known immediately that he had found the stone when he came across it. Instead, Tan had trained himself into thinking that every stone he found was not the one he wanted…and by pure instinct and practice, threw them all away...including the one he really wanted.
According to NAR, only 7% of ALL clients that indicate they want to buy a home actually are interested in buying right now….a “HOT” lead, in other words. (In case your math skills are lacking…that means that 93% of ALL clients are going to be buying or selling outside of 30 days!!) And, that is also true for internet leads. NAR also states that less than half of all internet leads are actually contacted by an agent.
Agents have to re-learn. Agents have to re-group. Agents have to retrain themselves.
Instead of viewing every internet lead like a rock…treat it like gold. Treat it like a touch stone. Treat every lead like it is the best lead you have ever had. Follow up with the client diligently, timely, and with respect. Give them the information they require when they require it and work hard to make yourself THE resource that the lead thinks of when they need something. Do this every time. Without fail. Every time.
Why would you do this, you ask? Why would you spend so much time working on something that might take months to get to a closing rather than looking for something that will close in a shorter amount of time??
Well…aside from just being good business, the main reason is to train yourself…to train your mental and physical reactions so that, when you do grab that ball-shaped stone that is warm to the touch, you don’t automatically toss it into the lake because that is all you know to do with it…because that is all you have practiced. It is all you know.
Make sense yet???
If you would like more information on how RECR can help you find that touch stone, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058. Or, fan us on Facebook. And, if you are on Twitter, you can connect with Clint there also.
Some New RECR Testimonials!
Every once in a while, we here at Real Estate Client Referrals gets an email from a member agent that just makes us smile. And, lucky for us, it happened twice at the end of this last week.
RECR does not solicit testimonials. We feel that the best way for us to get a testimonial from anyone that uses our services is to provide a superior product and superior service and support. If we do our jobs right, we will get people commenting on it and receive testimonials. And, so far, this theory remains true.
Suchita Kahlon in British Columbia writes:
“I have been with Real Estate Client Referrals since March 2009. I have already closed a number of deals from the leads that I have received!! RECR is an amazing and reliable referral system and, even when the market was slow, was consistent in sending me solid leads. It’s worth every single penny that I have invested!! RECR is the best investment that Realtors could do for themselves. ”
Beverly Hicks in Colorado wrote us and says:
“I have been with Real Estate Client Referrals for the better part of 4 years now…and I think they are fantastic!! I had two closings last month (August, 2009) from RECR and I have two more this month (Septemeber, 2009)!! One of my leads generated 4 closings, 1 listing, and two more potential buyers!! In this market, where it is so hard to get deals to the table, it is great to have a company like Real Estate Client Referrals as a lead generating tool. They screen the clients so you don’t get bogus people and the referrals are receptive to you. I have never had any person get upset with me for calling. For the record, I am a REAL real estate agent …you can look me up. This company is so great!! I really believe in the referral system and in RECR! I won’t use any other referral company!! Their program is fantastic!! It is the best marketing investment that you can make!!”
If you would like more information about Real Estate Client Referrals and how we can help you have the same success, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058. Or, if you prefer, email to clintmiller@recr.com. Or, follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/recr or www.twitter.com/TheRealClint.
Guerrilla Marketing — Daring To Be Different
“Marketing is the differentiation of yourself against your competition. Advertising is the cost of being boring.”
That is according to an article I read in BrokerAgentPro roughly a year ago. The article went on to say that, if a person marketed themselves properly, they would never need to advertise because everyone would already know who they are and what they do. The article also went on to say that, if you don’t know the difference between the two, you should hire someone that does. And, I couldn’t agree more!
I enjoy marketing. I guess that is why I blog. It’s a good way for me to differentiate my company versus other companies in this same market space in a way that reaches my customer base quickly, efficiently, and in a format that they understand. And…it’s FREE! What could be better? Especially when you consider that my company does no advertising at all (aside from the gazillion websites we have out in the interwebz).
One aspect of marketing I really find fascinating is the underground, sometimes subtle, sometimes “in-your-face” marketing that has been affectionately called “guerrilla” marketing.
Below is a couple examples of very successful guerilla marketing campaigns.
In this example, the information on the tear-away “teeth” is for a new dentist office that opened up about a block away from this pole.
This photo was taken by a passenger at an airport turnstyle. If you saw this while picking up your bags, do you think you would remember it??
On occasion, I have posted tweets on my Twitter account about different guerrilla marketing ideas that I have come across. As a result, I was asked to compile a list of some of them and write a blog about them.
But, before I started writing this, I posted a status update about a guerrilla campaign on our Facebook fan-page. It quickly insighted a response! (You can see the entire conversation here – Real Estate Client Referrals fan-page)
“Is this both acceptable and smart?” asked one fan.
“Annoying” and “Obnoxious” said another.
Yet other fans said things like “I like the way you think.” And, “I love it!”
Guerrilla marketing isn’t for everyone. And, some of these suggestions are simply just too risky for some to attempt. But, if they didn’t work, you wouldn’t hear about them. Keep that in mind as you read through this list…
Place business cards (mini moo cards, for example) in the sugar packet containers at restaurants
Go to the local computer store and change the home page on the browsers to your website
Have a rubber stamp made of your twitter handle (Or your website!!) and stamp it on all of your money; Also, if you are attending an event where you would hand out a business card, take $50 in $1 bills that have been stamped with your website. Hand them out to people as if it was your business card.
Use that same stamper and stamp a book of post-it notes. Place those post-it notes anywhere people can see them.
Go to the library/book store and put a business card in every book that relates to your field; IE — Own a restaurant supply store? Put your cards in the cook books. You’re a contractor?? Put cards in all the Do-It-Yourself repair books.
Slip business cards into the magazines at your salon, doctors office, dentist office, etc.
Go to the beach and write your company name in the sand in huge letters
Buy cheap plastic magnetic letters (like for your fridge) and put your website on anything metal — doors, poles, road signs. The letters are cheap…so if they fall off, no biggie…and they wont cause permanent damage to whatever you put them against (except maybe a hard-drive).
Get sidewalk chalk and draw feet or arrows to your office on the sidewalks and streets around town. As you people get close to your office, write an offer. IE — “10% off if you mention you saw this!”
Use that same sidewalk chalk and write your website or company name in parking lots/cross walks/ETC
Fliers!!! Flieers are cheap and can be distributed ANYWHERE! Put them in businesses (that will allow it), parking lots, street poles, bus stops, anywhere people can see them.
Put ads in local free papers (if available in your area) IE — the Nickel
Get blank business cards made up with only your website address on it (or twitter handle). Hand them out whenever someone talks about a website (or you talk about a website)
Put an add in the personals in our local paper – “MWM real estate agent seeks buyers for 145 Shady Lane; Must be in good humor and have decent credit”. (There is some obvious personal safety issues associated with this one. I would do this because Im 6′2″ tall and weigh about 320 lbs. But, if I were a 5′1″ blonde lady that weighed 110 lbs, I might feel like this would not be safe for me to attempt. Be safe, people!)
Use pictures in your blogs titled with your key search words. Trust me, it works! You have to write the post anyway…may as well make it pop AND get some SEO juice from it. Get temporary tattoos made of your website and wear them in plain view. People will take notice, I promise!
Add the phone line from a brokerage that closes to your phone system – I just spoke with an agent that worked for RE/MAX after calling a phone number that was listed in YellowBook as Century21. It turns out the C21 brokerage closed. So, the RE/MAX office had the number added to their inbound lines. GENIUS!! Now, all of that advertising that the C21 office did is supporting that number!
Yes, it is true. Some of these suggestions simply wont work in your market. Some of these suggestions might just be “too scary” or be deemed by some as “a waste of time”. (They used to say that about blogging, too. Just saying.) Yet, other people may think that these are bold attempts at being different…’thinking outside the box’ to the 10th power.
Either way, these simple, yet effective, types of marketing will make people talk about you and your business. And, isn’t that the goal of marketing?? If you believe that “there is no such thing as bad press“, then this underground “guerrilla” marketing might just be the thing for you!
If you would like more information on Real Estate Client Referrals, please click on this link. Or, you can contact Clint at 800-977-7058 or follow us on Twitter.
